Back in NYC, a parade of meetings at Trump Tower

Carrie Doyle | November 26, 2016, 7:18

Mitt Romney is taking a potential offer to serve as Donald Trump's secretary of state seriously, even as questions remain about whether Trump considers a Romney nomination as plausible. Perhaps by design, the roster ofigures arriving at the club was hard to pigeonhole: There were loyalists (Rudy Giuliani, the former NY mayor), former adversaries (Mitt Romney, who once called Trump a "phony"), Democrats (Michelle A Rhee, the former schools chief in Washington) and scientists (Patrick Soon-Shiong, a billionaire cancer doctor).

(Conway) "Honestly to me it shows his great character and his skills as a leader that he can set that aside to do the business of the people and form a government".

Beyond Mattis, the top names on the guest list Sunday were Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who was recently ousted as the leader of Trump's transition team, former NY mayor Rudy Giuliani and immigration hardliner Kris Kobach.

Trump held meetings at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, with candidates for senior administration jobs after he takes office on January 20. He told the Times, "I disavow and condemn them".

President-elect Donald Trump says he's canceled a meeting with representatives of The New York Times.

Trump made a flurry of brief public appearances over the weekend, often with Vice President-elect Mike Pence at his side, to flash frequent thumbs-ups and provide quick updates on his progress in building a government.

"General Mattis has a clear understanding of the many challenges facing the Department of Defence, the U.S. military, and our national security".

Trump said he would cancel some restrictions on producing energy in the United States on his first day in office, particularly shale oil and "clean coal", which he said would create "many millions of high-paying jobs". Jeff Sessions for attorney general.

His targets Sunday included Sen. Trump tweeted that incoming Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, another media-savvy New Yorker, was "far smarter" than Reid and "has the ability to get things done".

Mr Trump also insisted again that the cast and producers of Hamilton should apologise after the lead actor addressed Mr Pence from the stage on Friday night, telling the vice president-elect that "diverse America" was "alarmed and anxious".

Mr Trump has selected Alabama senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general and Kansas representative Mike Pompeo to head the Central Intelligence Agency, signalling a sharp rightward shift in U.S. security policy. Trump also named retired Lt. Gen Michael Flynn as his national security adviser.

"Prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished" if Trump became the nominee, he said.

Pompeo's nomination to lead the Central Intelligence Agency also opens the prospect of the US resuming torture of detainees. In 2014, Pompeo criticized Obama for "ending our interrogation program" and said intelligence officials "are not torturers, they are patriots".